Labour ‘not terrified’ of Reform UK, says Murray

Labour is “not terrified” of Reform UK, Scottish Secretary Ian Murray has said.

The minister ridiculed the party’s deputy leader Richard Tice, who on Thursday appeared not to know the names of two council defectors during a visit to Glasgow.

Under questioning from journalists, Mr Tice appeared to have forgotten or not known the surnames of councillors James Gray and Ross Lambie, who had left the Tories to join his party, only using their first names.

Earlier in the day the deputy of the Nigel Farage-led party said both Scottish Labour and the SNP were “terrified” of them.

Speaking to the PA news agency following a speech in Edinburgh, Mr Murray said: “We’re certainly not terrified of a party (whose deputy leader) doesn’t know the name of his own councillors.”

He added that Labour has to perform as a Government to succeed in next year’s Holyrood election.

“We’ve set out our stall, we’ve set out our missions,” Mr Murray added.

“Our manifesto is there for everyone to see.

“We’ve settled and stabilised the economy with the Budget back in October, now it’s time to start delivering on those big issues.”

Speaking at a Q&A session following the Edinburgh speech, Mr Murray said Mr Tice had been “battered” by the questions – a reference to the Glasgow visit taking place at a chip shop – adding that he struggled to answer “basic questions”.

“When you start to scratch under the surface of politicians from parties like Reform, you start to see what they really are all about,” he said.